Men's Lacrosse Hosts Binghamton on Monday

The Canisius College men’s lacrosse team takes a break from MAAC action for a non-conference game with Binghamton on Monday. The two New York State schools are set to meet at the Demske Sports Complex at 7 p.m.

Monday's game can also be seen live on Time Warner SportsChannel (Ch. 13/713 in Buffalo).

SCOUTING THE GRIFFS• Canisius is coming off an 8-6 win at Manhattan on Saturday to improve to 2-8 on the season. The defending MAAC Champions, the Griffs are 2-2 in league play.• Sophomore Tim Edwards leads the team with 28 points and 15 assists this season, while freshman Vince Gravino ranks second with 24 points, scoring a team-best 17 goals.• Sophomore netminder Alex Govenettio has started 9-of-10 games in goal for Canisius, posting an 11.71 goals against average and .456 save percentage.• Senior Mike Moran leads the Griffs in faceoffs, winning 57.4 percent of restarts (97-of-169).

X-FACTOR• The biggest strength for the Griffs this year has come at the faceoff X with senior Mike Moran.• Moran ranks first in the MAAC and 10th nationally by winning 57.4 percent of his restarts (97-of-169). In Saturday’s win, Moran won 12-of-16 (75 percent) faceoffs.• The senior is enjoying one of the better seasons in the program’s history. His 57.4 winning percentage currently ranks fourth in the school’s record book.

DEFENSE KEY TO VICTORY• The Griffs are hoping that Saturday’s performance, especially on the defensive end, signals a similar turnaround as it did last season.• In Saturday’s win, the Griffs allowed season lows for an opponent in goals (six), shots (25), ground balls (26), extra-man tallies (zero) and face-off wins (four) en route to an 8-6 victory.• It was also after nine games last season that Canisius’ improvement on the defensive end was key en route to a MAAC Championship.• The Griffs lowered their scoring defense from 12.56 goals per game in the first nine contests to 8.75 the rest of the regular season and MAAC Tournament on the way to the program’s second conference championship.

JACOBBI GIVES OFFENSE A BOOST• In a need of a spark on offense, the Griffs turned toward freshman Billy Jacobbi on April 6 and the rookie has not disappointed.• In two games since joining the starting lineup, Jacobbi has totaled five points on a goal and four assists. He recorded a career-best three points (1g, 2a) in his first career start on April 6.• Jacobbi has provided the Griffs with a nice third option on attack in his two games, averaging 2.50 points per game.• In the eight previous contests this year, Canisius’ third attacker totaled only seven points (6g, 1a), with four of the points coming from Cody Gould, who was the team’s starter to begin the season but is now out with an injury.

CANISIUS - BINGHAMTON SERIES HISTORY• The two New York State foes have met on two prior occasions with Binghamton winning in each of the last two seasons, 11-7.• Last year, the Brandon Planck scored four-straight goals in the third and fourth quarters to lead the Bearcats to the win in Vestal.• Overall, Canisius is 1-12 all-time against America East teams with its lone win coming against Albany last season.

ABOUT THE BEARCATS• Binghamton is 5-6 on the season after suffering an 11-3 setback to Hartford on Saturday.• Tucker Nelson leads the Bearcats with 29 points and 21 assists this season to go along with eight goals. Matt Springer ranks second on the team with 27 points, netting a team-best 25 goals.• Max Schefler has started all 11 games in goal for the Bearcats, posting a 9.59 goals against average and .569 save percentage.• Alex Doerflein has led the team at the faceoff X, winning 54.6 percent of his restarts.